What Is a Fard? (Part 2)

Now, once the fard for sale is issued, its account is frozen, either the owner comes and says, the original fard for sale is with me, my deal didn't go through, it will be attached and cancelled, and then that frozen account will be restored, or the fard for sale has been used, the registration is done, and the registered sale deed will come to the patwari, and then, to enter the mutation of that sale deed, as I described earlier, then the former owner's account gets entered as former owner, and the current owner, the one who bought that property, becomes the current owner. Now the fard for gift, this follows the same procedure, either the general attorney comes or the actual owner comes, roughly the same procedure as the fard for sale. The fard for mortgage also follows the same procedure, with slight differences, but roughly the same, and these are the three most important fards, once issued, their account remains frozen until the next action is taken. Neither will a fard for sale be issued for that account, nor a fard for gift, nor a fard for mortgage, its ownership account will remain frozen until the result of the issued fard reaches the patwari, either as a cancellation or as its implementation.

Now, how many kinds of registers exist at the patwar khana (patwari's office)? Your purpose will be resolved by this, your understanding will become clear as I explain the registers to you. One register is the jamabandi register, from the first owner down to the last owner, this register contains all the entries. First, whenever you want to buy any property, go check the jamabandi, see who all have been owners from the first owner down to the last owner, this is the jamabandi register. The second register is the register of rights holders, showing which owner appears in which khewat, which khatuni, which khasra, and how much area, in it, the first column has the khewat number, the second column has the khatuni number, the third column has the owner, and it continues like that with various columns. That's the jamabandi register, and then the register of rights holders, as ownership keeps changing, through inheritance, sale, gift, this register keeps getting updated, and by updating it, you can find out the property's status. The register of rights holders records all matters relating to the co-owners and rights holders in that mauza. Then there's the girdawari (crop inspection) register. The girdawari register is also important, there are two crop seasons, rabi and kharif, the girdawari register is active around those crop seasons. If I buy a property, the former owner's name will remain in the girdawari register until you tell the patwari's assistant (gird) to go inspect the site and see that possession is mine, this is my proof of ownership, now in the girdawari register, in the place of occupant, my name should be written, in the place of owner my name should be written, you'll get these things from the girdawari register. The rabi crop season will come, if you bought the land in November, December, you can't enter your name in the girdawari register, you have to wait for the rabi crop season, and similarly the kharif crop season, and when those months come, there are specific days, during which you need to go to secure your possession, so that my possession is recorded, the patwari's assistant needs to go to the patwari's office, that's the whole process. After this, the patwari maintains a daily diary (roznamcha) of events, whatever fards were issued, whatever mutations were issued, all that detail gets written down one by one in it. Then, in the patwar copy, after this, the most important thing the patwari has is the aks-e-shajra (map tracing), a large piece of cloth on which the entire mauza's map is drawn, showing how many acres, where the numbering is, where the numbering in marlas is, where in square feet, where in kanals, where in acres, all of that is drafted on this aks-e-shajra. Sitting in the patwar khana, he tells you, your plot is here, you need to go here, that's the patwari's whole job. Now here's an important point. In Punjab, about 70 percent of this work has already been done, 30 percent remains. Now all authorities have been taken away from the patwari and given to the ADLR (Assistant Director Land Records), it's been computerized, but the results aren't 100 percent yet, because of these patwaris' own hidden dealings that they maintain. So now the fard for sale is also issued by the ADLR, and it only goes to the patwari as a clerk, so to speak, saying, sir, enter this in your handwritten register, the patwari's job is almost finished. Now the question comes up, how does the patwari blackmail people, and what precautions should we take to avoid the patwari, what terms do we have available? I'll tell you what authorities you have to deal with this blackmailing.